Commiting to Consistency - Lets make it stick!

Today I had the day off to take care of my son who was sick. I took it as an opportunity to get a soft start on some of my goals. I looked into a couple of options for my fitness goals. First I thought I would do the empowered abs program. I laid out mat and got started doing the exercises. One set in baby started crying. After tending to him I tried the next two abs body weight exercises. One of them was very uncomfortable and I realized this program wasn't going to work for me. I am just not a fan of bodyweight exercises like that.

baby png from pngtree.com/

I didn't let that stop me from doing my exercises for the day. I decided to take a walk. The rain had stopped (it was a thunderstorm). In the past I had walked a mile around the neighborhood with the stroller, which is 3 laps. This time I decided to challenge myself and walk with baby in the Moby wrap (baby carrier). I thought it would be comforting to him and would also give me some more strength training. He weighs almost 19 lbs now. I needed to get 30min of exercise in for the healthy lifestyle tracking (more on that later). So I did 4 laps (1.5 miles) instead of my usual 3 (1 mile) to get 30min. And the average speed was was actually .3mph more than usual even with the extra weight. I could definitely feel like it was more of a workout with carrying the baby. But it wasn't too much just a little more strength needed, rather than a leisure stroll.

My walk workout summary

So at work we have a healthy lifestyle incentive program. If you workout 90 mins a week basically 30 min three times a week, you get $5 off your insurance each pay period. This is my accountability.

July 6 first entry 30 min

So instead of doing the bodyweight exercises (abs program), I looked on YouTube for some rowing exercise plans to loose weight. I know I like this form of exercise and I feel it is the best option for me to do something I enjoy and is effective. It is a full body workout. And if I am at the gym and have some extra time I can do some arm strength workouts as well.

I took a screenshot of the YouTube example rowing workout

So this program seems like I could follow it. I don't have to watch a YouTube exercise each time, I just follow the simple plan and do it. The program alternates from a HIIT (high intensity interval training) one day and a steady row the next day. With four days of active rowing and 2 days of leisure exercise such as walking or hiking. And one rest day. I think I would like to go to the gym M-T-W-TH, 4 days in a row, so I have Friday to get ready for sabbath. If I have a week where I have counseling on a Tuesday I might switch my gym day to Friday (sunset) time allowing.

Last quarter I had the intention of doing the healthy incentive program, but didn't follow through. I did go to the gym several times but not consistently. And I forgot to track it on the sheet. Also on days I missed, I kind of felt oh well I missed it this week so I guess that's it... And kind of gave up.

I need to think of the reasons why I wasn't able to have consistency last quarter.

There are barriers to my consistency that I need to accommodate for:

Challenges I have with making it to the gym are:

• Packing my gym bag the night before
• Arriving and leaving work at the correct time

So part of packing my gym bag the night before is going to be a part of my nightly routine that I am trying to develop as part of the flylady system (more on that in another post). These routines are developed to help get in the habit of doing things on the regular so you don't get bogged down when it piles up.

Some of the things I am utilizing for tracking my habits is an app called "Habit now". I am still playing with it to see how I can best utilize it. Currently I have habit tracking for night meds at 9pm and bed time at 10pm. I'll have to see if I can add some of the flylady routines in there. But so far it had been helpful with reminders and tracking if I did it. I just added tracking for clocking in at 8am. Waking up on time has always been a problem for me. I have the tendency to press snooze and lay back down. THIS IS A CRONIC PROBLEM for me. Developing those habits of taking my meds a 9pm or earlier and start winding down so I can fall asleep at 10pm is so important to starting the next day right. Lately I have been needing sleep aids to help me fall asleep and I don't take it right off the bat so it will be 11pm and I'm still not asleep when I finally decide for that extra boost with the additional pill. It is all a part of my bipolar illness.

Well that was a lot to post about, but I know it is helpful writing it and tracking it. It is a form of accountability and also helps me get in the right frame of mind. If I discuss my goals iny blog it helps me process and see how I am doing.

Until next time, Keep being determined 2b determined to find excitement in the mundane!

Returning to Find the Excitement in the Mundane

I have gained weight. I have been depressed, sleeping and eating a lot.  It may be because of a new medication change, but still its bad. When I am in my lows I compulsively eat. That is what I am battling now,  staying in my bed all day and eating compulsively. I have realized it is an addiction.  I am addicted to sugar and carbs.  So what am I to do?

I am trying to create a schedule to keep me healthy, but  schedules are hard for me to follow, as this blog is a testament of.

I started this new schedule goal last Friday. I was going to wake up and  go to the gym before 8 am and abstain from eating sugar. I managed  to do it one day. I woke up and went to the gym that first morning (Friday). I was doing good at avoiding  sugar. I succeeded in 4 days without sugar, but then I cracked. I saw a picture of a  twinkie and I wanted one. I don't  even particularly like twenties. They are just okay in my opinion. I spent my last bit of money on twinkies &  cookies at 11 pm Tuesday and a candy bar at  4 pm today (Wednesday) and chocolate fruit bites at 6pm. That is even more evidence of the addiction. That is a long way  from where I was at the beginning  of the semester. The idea of being  addicted to food was very uncomfortable for me to face.

 

Thoughout the week I also realized that since I avoided sweets, I still compulsively ate carbs. What is really bad is that I will go to a lot of effort to have my addictive food. If I don't have any sweets on hand I will make some, the microwave cakes got me for awhile but recently I have gone to the lengths of making more strenuous foods such as shortbread cookies, yellow cake, and when I was avoiding sugar I made homemade focaccia. This was when all I had was a few ingredients in the house. I typically don't even like bread, I really just needed something to much on and the carrots weren't satisfying.

Soon I will learn how to avoid sweets and carbs and instead take satisfaction from having an apple or salad instead. Now I just have to focus on getting rid of the addiction.

I am realizing that I need to play to my strengths and weaknesses. I need to learn from my past and decide the best course of action. In the past I have used fitness pal to keep track of the every detailed account of what I ate. As you can tell from my blog posts I really don't like keeping track of what I eat. I tried sticking to a schedule of working out in the morning. These things helped, but they didn't work completely. I also need to learn to be flexible. If I fail to wake up one morning for early workouts then I can go in the afternoon or evening. It might help to keep a track of what I eat, but maybe be less detailed about it. Maybe only keeping track of when I ate rather than what I ate is more fitting.

I have to realize that I am not a morning person. It will always be difficult for me to wake up in the early morning. Therefore, I should not expect myself to wake up early to exercise. Today was a failure of the morning. I did not exercise, and missed a Dr. appointment. I stayed in bed to the very last minute that I needed for my interview. The day wasn't over. I still had time to exercise, so I went after class. Maybe exercise after class can become an option. I still would like to try to wake up early each morning to exercise, because it is healthy to have a schedule that prevents me from being in my bed all day.

I have also focused on a night time ritual. I get a cup of chamomile and ginger honey tea (yes it has sugar but it balances the strong ginger) at around 10pm. I also take my medication at 10 pm. This give me about an hour to do things like, write my blog, read the bible, read non-fiction or fiction. And another hour to focus on getting to bed, so I fall asleep at 12 (not go to bed at 12). It usually takes a little time to transition from being in bed to falling asleep.

 

 I want to come back to writing in my blog more. My first semester of grad school is coming to an end. I haven't been writing in here because I have been occupied with my grad school work, and plus I didn't feel like it. I really just didn't want to face my goals.

I have bipolar disorder and my moods wax and wane from goal directed motivation to lazy lack of interest. It is a struggle to find a balance and that is my goal for this blog. I am Determined-2b-Determined to "Find the Excitement in the Mundane "goals that will keep me healthy.